1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicular brake control apparatus and a control method therefor and, in particular, relates to a vehicular brake control apparatus and a control method therefor capable of being mounted mainly on a vehicle of a bar handle type such as an auto-tricycle, auto-bicycle, or all-terrain vehicle (ATV)
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, there is known a vehicular brake control apparatus capable of operating brakes by electrically controlling brake fluid pressure of the vehicle (see Japanese Patent Unexamined Publications Nos. JP-A-2000-127930 and JP-A-2000-264278, for example).
The vehicular brake control apparatus disclosed in each of the publications is configured in a manner that the brake controls of the front and rear wheels of an auto-bicycle can be performed independently and also can be performed in an interlocked manner between the front and rear wheels.
In each of these conventional brake control apparatuses for vehicles, the brake operations of the front and rear wheels are performed in an interlocked manner based on the operation pressure of a brake operation unit, whereby the interlocking brake operation in which the brake operations of the front and rear wheels are performed in the interlocked manner may be performed even in a running state where none of the front wheel and the rear wheel are locked and so a normal brake operation is to be performed. Thus, in such the conventional brake control apparatus, unlike the conventional bar handle type vehicle, the brake operations of the front and rear wheels can not be performed independently based on a driver's intention, so that a good brake feeling can not be obtained. Further, a sporty running etc. fitting for a driver's intention can be not realized due to such the interlocking brake operation.
On the other hand, in such a running state where the front or rear wheel is locked at the time of the brake operation, it is desirable to perform the brake operations of the rear and front wheels in the interlocked manner so as to place the behavior of the vehicle in a stable state.